‘Pokemon’ Celebrates Major Anime Anniversary

Despite releasing the first game 23 years ago, the Pokemon franchise is stronger than ever. What is as popular as the games, however, is the anime series which was integral to helping the series gain the amount of notoriety as it has today. The series actually hit a major landmark in Japan recently with April 1 actually marking 22 years since the anime premiered.

As pointed out by Joe Merrick of Serebii.net, the first episode of the anime series originally premiered in Japan 22 years ago on April 1, 1997 in Japan.

With twenty movies, and another on the way, the series is now 1,053 episodes strong and spans multiple games in the series. Ash hasn’t changed much since his debut, though the Sun and Moon iteration has seen the most variation yet, but his crew of both human and Pokemon companions has shifted over the course of the series. Through its tenure, Ash has traveled with around nine female companions, around 6-7 male companions, and has captured more Pokemon that fans can count.

But as the series continues to reinvent itself, fans will be along for the ride for another 22 years. Each fan has their own favorite generation of the anime, with the first being the most popular for its pure nostalgia factor, but each of the anime eras has its own great offerings.

If you haven’t kept up with the current run of the anime, Pokemon the Series: Sun and Moon is described as such, “What starts as a summer vacation in the tropical Alola region turns into the next exciting chapter in Ash Ketchum’s quest to become a Pokémon Master! There’s plenty for Ash and Pikachu to explore in this sunny new region, with exciting new Pokémon to discover and interesting people to learn from along the way—including the cool Professor Kukui and the fun-loving Samson Oak.

More new faces will help guide Ash’s Alolan adventure, in the form of a group of skilled Trainers—Kiawe, Lana, Mallow, and Sophocles—and a mysterious research assistant called Lillie. Frequent foes Team Rocket have also made the trip to Alola, looking to swipe some high-powered new Pokémon. But they have some heavy competition on the villainy front: the ruffians of Team Skull, who delight in causing chaos and may have more sinister intentions…”

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